<\/p>\n
Human life and the environment at risk<\/strong><\/p>\n At this stage it is almost impossible to accurately estimate the environmental\u00a0impacts, since far too little is known about the ecosystem\u00a0of the ocean depths. \u201cWe know more about the surface of Little has changed since then. Environmental experts,\u00a0however, share the view that deep seabed mining would represent\u00a0a severe and extremely risky form of intervention in the ecosystems\u00a0of the oceans, with unforeseeable consequences. According to\u00a0scientific evidence, regeneration phases take approximately 25\u00a0times as long in the ocean depths as in ecosystems on land.<\/p>\n The following serious damage to the ecosystems of the ocean\u00a0depths can be expected:<\/p>\n \u2022 long-term degradation of the seabed, and with it the fauna\u00a0and flora living on or near the seabed, with their unique\u00a0and largely unexplored diversity of corals, sponges, fish and\u00a0other creatures;<\/p>\n \u2022 the formation of huge sediment plumes that will be transported\u00a0by currents, causing widespread damage in a radius of hundreds\u00a0of kilometres;<\/p>\n \u2022 the generation of noise, light and vibrations by giant remotely\u00a0controlled equipment on the seabed, some of it weighing as\u00a0much as 250 or even 310 tonnes, with adverse effects especially\u00a0on large sea mammals such as whales \u00a0 and dolphins, causing\u00a0them irreparable damage.<\/p>\n Our oceans are already massively stressed by increasing shipping,\u00a0overfishing, oil and gas extraction, and enormous volumes of discarded\u00a0plastic. Deep seabed mining would unavoidably increase\u00a0the amounts of pollutants ending up in the sea.\u00a0The anticipated damage to fish stocks would threaten the\u00a0environmental asset base of many Pacific Islanders, many of whom\u00a0still live in a subsistence economy based mainly on fishing, while\u00a0some also gain income from tourism. An intervention as profound\u00a0as is to be expected in deep seabed mining would rob Pacific Islanders\u00a0of their economic asset base.<\/p>\n The ocean is part of the spiritual\u00a0and cultural space the predominantly indigenous peoples of the\u00a0Pacific inhabit. Deep seabed mining could also mean the loss of\u00a0their traditions and culture.\u00a0The processing plants on land would pose an additional risk.\u00a0Experience with conventional terrestrial mining, and offshore oil\u00a0and gas extraction, shows that even when stringent safeguards are\u00a0applied, environmental damage and resulting human rights violations These rights are cemented in the Universal Declaration of\u00a0Human Rights and in further human rights conventions of the\u00a0United Nations.\u00a0In contrast to the impacts of deep seabed mining, the effects\u00a0of land-based mining are generally visible and are frequently highlighted\u00a0by the activities of civil society organisations. The potential\u00a0damage to the oceans, on the other hand, is difficult for civil society\u00a0organisations to expose and will therefore remain hidden for long\u00a0periods, in which nothing can be done about it.\u00a0Furthermore, the ocean depths play an important role in the\u00a0global carbon cycle, and thus in the climate system and ever-advancing\u00a0climate change. A large part of the carbon dioxide emissions\u00a0caused by human activity is absorbed by the oceans. The\u00a0direct influence of deep seabed mining on this sink function has\u00a0yet to be researched. The destruction of the ecosystems in the\u00a0ocean depths could seriously disrupt the carbon cycle. In the\u00a0words of the German UNESCO Commission, \u201c[o]ceans cover 70\u00a0per cent of the planet. They are the largest providers of oxygen;\u00a0they create our climate and can be the source of natural disasters.\u00a0The oceans are gravely endangered due to overfishing, acidification,\u00a0the overuse of fertilisers and the dumping of waste. We need\u00a0greater awareness, clear rules and evidence-based governance in GOAL 14: Life under water<\/strong> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[49],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ozeanien-dialog.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1913"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ozeanien-dialog.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ozeanien-dialog.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ozeanien-dialog.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ozeanien-dialog.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1913"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ozeanien-dialog.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2609,"href":"https:\/\/www.ozeanien-dialog.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1913\/revisions\/2609"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ozeanien-dialog.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ozeanien-dialog.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ozeanien-dialog.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ozeanien-dialog.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMars and Venus than we know about the deep ocean floor, broadly\u00a0speaking it is a great unknown,\u201d said Dr Chris Yates, geologist\u00a0with the Mineral System Science Program of the Commonwealth\u00a0Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO, Australia)\u00a0in 2012.<\/p>\n
\ncannot be fully ruled out. The rights that are endangered\u00a0include the right to health and the right to an adequate standard\u00a0of living, the latter covering the right to food and clean drinking\u00a0water.<\/p>\n
\norder to combat these developments.\u201d \u00a0The commission rightly\u00a0points to the fact that one of the 17 global Sustainable Development\u00a0Goals (SDGs) \u2013 SDG 14 \u2013 is dedicated explicitly to the protection\u00a0of the oceans:<\/p>\n
\nConserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine\u00a0<\/strong>resources for sustainable development.<\/strong><\/p>\n